Container for materials in stick form



Nov. 1, 1949 w. E. MESH ETAL CONTAINER FOR MATERIALS IN STICK FORM FiledNov. 30, 1946 FIG-4.

26 37 INVENTORS Wmfw sm @r Patented Nov. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CONTAINER FOR MATERIALS IN STICK FORM William E. Mesh, Teaneck,N. J and Benson Carlin, New York, N. Y.

1 Claim.

This invention relates to improved means and methods of positioningmaterial within a holder, and is particularly applicable to the cosmeticart. More particularly this invention relates to holders for materialsin stick form, such as waxes, and to means for automatically positioningsuch materials so that they are always automatically extended from theholder a predetermined distance and are therefore ready for use.

It is at present usual in making such an adjustment, such as in the useof a lipstick or similar article to position the wax manually at thebeginning of each use, and to reposition it again manually after theuse. The positioning method may be any one of a number of mechanicalmeans, and is usually a screw which drives the wax through the outercontainer. Such containers are usually messy and at the end of a shortperiod of use the wax has become softened and may be transferred to thefingers or person of the person using it. Moreover both hands arenecessary for the positioning act. When it is necessary or desirable tointroduce refills into the container it is diflicult to do so, and it iseven difficult to get the old wax out of the container.

This invention relates to a method and means for performing suchoperations wholly automatically so that when the cover is removed from acontainer of lipstick or similar material in stick form, the stick ofwax is in a position suitable for use. and automatically repositionsitself at the end of such use so that it is once again in a position forfurther use. Moreover such positioning is accomplished in such a mannerso that the wax is not in intimate contact with any posit oning means orgauge between the uses, so that it does not become deformed by thepressure of such a device. As a further advantage of this invention, thestick of wax may be automatically expe led at the end of its period ofuse or at any intermediate period at the desire of the user, and a newstick introduced, and the holder will then gauge the new stick andposition it without any special adjustments or parts. Moreover thisoperation will be performed upon refills without the necessity of anyspecial mechanism being attached to the filler.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a new and novelmechanism which may be used to secure any material of stick form withinany container and to release it selectively upon a suitable actuation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a reading of thefollowing specification and claim in connection with the drawing.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 represents the vertical section through the cap or cover of acontainer for material in stick form.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the container for the material,taken near the center of the container as represented by the line 2-2 inFig. 3.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional representation of the container takenthrough the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical section of the container taken along the line 4-4of Fig. 2.

Figure 5 is a horizontal section of the special spring means suitablefor the operation of the container.

Referring to the drawings there is disclosed a lipstick containerconsisting of a holder portion In disclosed in Fig. 3 and a coverportion ll disclosed in Fig. 1. The holder portion I0 is adapted tosupport a stick of wax such as a lipstick M which normally is furnishedwith a cup l2 which is held within the holder portion Ill in thefollowing manner. The cup I2 is adapted to be gripped by anelliptic-shaped spring tubing l5 which will grip the cup along the minoraxis of the ellipse as shown in Fig. 2. The elliptic spring is heldwithin the outer casing 2|] of the holder portion II! by means of pins2| fixed to the spring at its major axis, said pins extending throughopenings 22 in the casing 20. The lipstick and its supporting cup l2tend to be propelled out of the container 20 by means of a power spring25 anchored at its lower end 26 adjacent the bottom 2'! of container 20by means such as detent 28 and having its forward or free end inengagement with recess 29 in the bottom of the cup I 2. Power spring 25thus normally tends to propel the stick l4 forwardly out of thecontainer but is prevented from doing so by means of the elliptic springwhich grips the cup I 2 with sufficient force to overcome the tendencyof the power spring to propel the cup and its stick l4 forwardly.

When the stick is moved out of the casing 20 it will wear down in use toa point where a fresh supply of stick must be fed outwardly through thecasing 20. This is done automatically by our present invention by theact of replacing the cover I l upon the container 20. For this purposethe cover is provided on its inner surface with an outwardly flaring camportion 30 designed to engage the projecting ends of pins 2| as thecover is applied over the container and to press said pins inwardly,thus shortening the major axis of the ellipse and increasing the minoraxis sufficiently to permit the cup l2 to move through the spring. Inother words, the application of the cover H to the casing automaticallyreleases the pressure of the elliptic spring on the cup 12 and thuspermits the power spring to move the cup 12 and lipstick l4 forwardlyout of the container.

To insure that the lipstick is moved outwardly only to a predetermineddegree, the cover It is provided on its interior with a limiting fiorm35. which not only limits the distance which the stick I 4 can beprojected and insures that this distance is always constant, but alsoforms the outer. end, of the stick into the proper shape for use.

If the power spring 25 were permittedzto'continue to exert ressure oncup 12 to keep stick I4 in pressure contact with the form 3-5, it wouldbe found that the stick' would be caused to spread out and create asediment ofwax in a form which would be detrimental to proper use.Therefore, there is provided by this invention means whereby after thestick I 4 has once made contact with the forward end of form 35' theforce of power spring 25 is again overcome even though the cover is, inposition on the container 20,. For this purpose there is formed back ofthe outer flaring cam an inner flaring cam portion 40- on the interiorof cover if so that after the cam portion 30 has passed the pins 2 landstick M has made contact with the forward end of form the pins willagain be permitted to move outwardly as they engage cam portion 40- andthus the minor axis of the elliptic spring member I5 is again shortenedto cause the spring to grip the cup l2 against forward movement and thuscounteract the tendency of power spring 25- to continue to force the cupand stick outwardly.

Having described and fully disclosed the invention, what we claim anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An article holder comprising a casing having an open and a closed end, acover for said casing, an article holding cup within said casing andlongitudinally slidable therein, an article within said cup, springpower means between the closed end of the casing and the bottom of thecup normally tending to feed the article out of the open end or thecasing, means within the casing normally gripping the cup withsufiicient force to overcome the power means, said means comprising aresilient elliptical tubular member surrounding the cup and gripping thesides of said cup in the direction of the minor axis of the ellipse andprojections secured to and extending from said, elliptical tubularmember in the line of the major axis thereof, said projectionsextending: through apertures in said casing, cam means on the innersurface of the cover adapted to engage said projections and press saidprojections inwardly of saidcasing when said cover is applied on saidcasing, whereby pressure is applied to the elliptical tubular member"along its major axis and said. cup is released, and means for againreleasing the pressure between the cover and the tubular member afterthe cap has moved a predetermined distance relative to the REFERENCESCITED following reterences are of record in the file or patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,958,524 Tanker May 15, 19341,972,472, Boness et al Y v $ept. 4 1934 22,71 ,262.

Johnson e. Jan. 21, 1942

